Suit filed over man who died after spinal injury at Lake County Jail

The sister of a man who died four months after suffering a spinal injury inside Lake County Jail has filed suit against the county and Sheriff Mark Curran, blaming them for his demise.

Eugene Gruber, 51, of Grayslake, was pepper-sprayed, assaulted and beaten by jail guards, claims the suit filed Thursday. And though he had "catastrophic" injuries and asked for medical help, none was provided until the following day, the suit states.

An attorney for the sheriff, Jim Sotos, called Gruber's death "horribly tragic" but disputed the lawsuit's account of events. Sotos said no member of the jail staff beat Gruber, intended to harm him or knew he was injured.

In its own investigation, concluded before Gruber's death, the Lake County state's attorney office determined there were no grounds for criminal charges against staff members involved.

Jail staff described Gruber as drunk and combative when he was brought in on Oct. 31 after a disorderly conduct and trespassing arrest. Guards told investigators that they used a neck-twisting "take-down" measure while struggling to change his clothes, according to the state's attorney's report.

Over the next several hours, Gruber complained that he couldn't move his legs and was carried around the jail, sometimes with his legs dragging, as guards tried to take his mug shot. But he was not taken to the hospital until the next day, when his condition deteriorated and he barely registered a pulse.

Also, officers did not initially document the physical altercation with Gruber in their required daily reports, according to records.

Once at Vista Medical Center East in Waukegan, doctors determined Gruber had a broken neck, for which two surgeries were performed, and had suffered paralysis. He died on March 3 at Schwab Rehabilitation Hospital in Chicago.

The suit, filed in federal court by Gruber's sister, Eileen Siwula, lists as defendants numerous other jail officials and employees of Correct Care Solutions, the jail's health care provider. A Correct Care nurse was fired in part for reportedly failing to assess Gruber properly. The nurse had told an officer that if Gruber were really paralyzed, he would "urinate on himself," according to the prosecutors' report.

Sotos, the sheriff's attorney, said jail staff "relied on the assessment of medical professionals who examined him and concluded he wasn't injured."

The sheriff was reviewing the incident to see whether it was handled in accordance with department policies.

Gruber's case marks the second inmate death tied to the Lake County Jail since last fall.

In January, Lyvita Gomes, of Vernon Hills, a native of India who had shown signs of mental illness, died after going on a hunger strike inside the jail.

Her family has questioned her treatment in jail and events leading to her incarceration, which began when she missed jury duty — something she was ineligible to serve anyway as a noncitizen — and was charged with resisting arrest.